WELLINGTON, New Zealand (Radio New Zealand International, October 5, 2015) – The United States military will conduct a second draft environmental impact statement for its plans in the Northern Marianas after strong opposition was voiced regarding the first draft.

The deadline for public comment on the document passed on Friday after being extended twice because of an undersea cable breakdown and Typhoon Soudelor.

The Marine Corps now says potential impacts on groundwater and coral from live-fire training needs further analysis.

Earlier consultants hired by the CNMI government said a new round of public comment was needed.

The Historic Preservation Office criticised the statement for not including the local Chamorro and Carolinian languages and says there was an improper scope of analysis.

Our correspondent Mark Rabago says it also came under strong criticism from the CNMI governor....

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (Radio New Zealand International, October 3, 2015) – The union behind a three-week long industrial conflict in New Caledonia last month has welcomed a debate about the future of the territory's nickel exports.

In an interview on local television, a union spokesperson, Max Foucher, said there is no doubt that allowing exports to China is the only solution to arrest decling exports to Australia.

In August, truck drivers set up blockades that brought the capital, Noumea, to a standstill to protest the government's policy to not approve exports of low grade ore to China.

Last week, the French overseas ministry invoked its rights under organic law to force the territory's government to debate the issue of nickel exports.

Mr Foucher says he welcomes the debate, saying the decline is threatening jobs and livelihoods.

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (Radio New Zealand International, October 3, 2015) – The Solomon Islands prime minister, Manasseh Sogavare, has called on France to implement the decolonisation process for French Polynesia approved by the United Nations two years ago.

In 2013, the General Assembly voted for a resolution sponsored by Solomon Islands to re-inscribe the territory on the UN decolonisation list but Paris has all but ignored the decision.

France has said it won't buy into the UN decolonisation process and also ruled out holding an immediate independence referendum as requested by the territorial assembly.

Speaking at the UN in New York, Mr Sogavare has urged France to change.

"Solomon Islands calls on the administrating power to fully co-operate with the work of the special committee. We note that 30 years of nuclear testing by the administrating power caused widespread atomic radiation...

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (Radio New Zealand International, October 5, 2015) – A Tongan doctor says breast cancer is now the most common cancer in the country, with 27 women dying from the disease in the past two years.

Ana 'Akau'ola, who was speaking at the launch of Pink October Breast Cancer Awareness Month, says 22 of those women were younger than 70 and many were in their 30s and 40s.

Dr 'Akau'ola says women must be encouraged to use the new mammogram service at Vaiola Hospital, as mammography has been shown to reduce breast cancer mortality.

Matangi Tonga reports her as saying women can protect themselves by not overeating, decreasing alcohol intake and stopping smoking.

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (Radio New Zealand International, October 2, 2015) – A pensioner on Nauru who had her fortnightly benefit stripped because she attended an anti-government protest in June says she will struggle without the payment.

64-year-old Rosavena Bop says she received a letter signed by the finance minister, David Adeang, saying she would no longer receive her $200 payment.

The letter says Cabinet made the decision last week that people involved in protests, riots and other "criminal" activities would stop receiving government priviliges.

But Ms Bop says she was never arrested or charged for attending the protest, and the decision to cancel her pension came as a complete surprise.

"We need it because we don't have any income. So I'm totally dependent on the $200 for the elderly for my having toilet paper, milk."

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (Radio New Zealand International, October 5, 2015) – Employees at American Samoa's largest tuna cannery say they are happy their wages have increased, but have reservations about their job security.

A federally mandated increase in the territory's minimum wage has come into force following a three year wage freeze, despite opposition from the business sector and some in government.

The latest wage hike is a compromise, with the Senate passing a 40 cent rise to be in effect for three years, instead of the proposed 50 cent rise.

An employee at StarKist Samoa, Line Tauatama, has welcomed the increase.

"We don't have enough to support our families and put our kids to school, bread on the table and all that. So for us labour workers, I know it's not that much, but it can help us."

However, Line Tautama says he is concerned about the effect the wage rise might have on job security...

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (Radio New Zealand International, October 5, 2015) – Labour mobility in the Pacific will be on the agenda when the small atoll nations meet in Kiribati later this week.

Kiribati, with help from the Prince Albert of Monaco Foundation, is hosting a conference to consider how to prepare for climate migrants to move in a dignified way.

The Kiribati Secretary of Foreign Affairs, Akka Rimon, says it is part of the gradual process of preparation for something that will become inevitable.

She says one thing they will want to look at will be extensions to existing labour mobility arrangements with countries like Australia and New Zealand.

"It is really us now faced with a dilemma where what do we do, and where do we go and what do we do from here if the time comes for us to go. So yes it is going to require more labour mobility programmes. More opportunities for us to be able to...

Pacific Islands Report is a nonprofit news publication of the Pacific Islands Development Program at the East-West Center in Honolulu, Hawai‘i. Offered as a free service to readers, PIR provides an edited digest of news, commentary and analysis from across the Pacific Islands region, Monday - Friday.